On an adaptive truss manipulator space crane conceptThe paper describes an adaptive truss manipulator (ATM) space crane concept for in-space assembly and construction. The underlying mechanism of an ATM is that the batten members of the constituent octahedral modules are controllable in length. Through geometric transformations of the constituent modules, the basic manipulator functions such as articulation can be performed by the ATM. The mechanism can also provide deployment/retraction, high dexterity motion, and bracing operation. The advantages of an ATM over the conventional multijoint-multilink anthropomorphic manipulator are its compact stowage volume for in-space storage and mobility, deployment as needed, high dexterity in complex workspace, and high redundancy of the actuator function. The kinematic description of an ATM is formulated in the global cartesian coordinate system.
Document ID
19920056649
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Chen, Gun-Shing (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Wada, Ben K. (JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1991
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: Joint U.S./Japan Conference on Adaptive Structures